Things About Motors…

“The Cog”, Honda’s animated TV advert.
Angel-eye headlamps from BMW.
Analogue instruments, revcounters, dials and Heuer Chronographs.
Fins and Chrome, Harley Earl.
MX5 engineers listening to British sportscar engine soundtracks like Lotus Elan to get their car right.
Tadek Marek’s glorious Aston Martin V8.
Colin Chapman’s ‘less is more’ philosophy.
The ‘wobbly web wheel’ from the same genius.
Nascar’s 70 litre fuel line.
Senna’s attention to detail.
Open header, slash cut, twin pipe and side-exit exhausts.
Overfinch Range Rovers.
Ford engineer Bill Meade – “one of those would go like the bloody clappers with a Lotus twin cam in it” – creating the legendary Ford Escort Twin Cam built at SVO, Boreham.
Enzo’s acquisition of the Cavallino Rampante.
Zora Arkus Duntov for making the Corvette go properly.
Roadrunners and Superbirds.
Lee Iacocca; business behind the Mustang.
TVR Griffith backlit numberplates.
Car badges from aero engines, land, sea, air, constellations, family names, animals and gracious ladies.
Grace, Space and Pace.
Turbocharging.
Diablo and Pagani: viewed in profile the cabin is forward just like a jet fighter plane.
Starter buttons and keyless ignition.
H.U.D’s in cars.
Doughnuts.
Blipping downshifts and paddle changes.
General Purpose, GP; Jeep is born.
Forget the Detroit Spinners, get a Detroit Locker! Air locking diff’s for 4x4s.
General Lee and Herbie.
Rolls-Royce Merlin engines.
The smell of old leather interiors.
Shark like vents, gills and fins on cars.
Beach Buggy; Meyers Manx.
Frank Costin and Keith Duckworth.
The ‘tink-tink-tinking’ sound of a well thrashed motor cooling down.
Motorbike-engined kit cars.
Dump valve and waste-gate sounds.
Automatically deployed aerodynamic assistance – pop-up spoilers, how neat’s that?
High powered driving lamps from Cibie, Hella, IPF.
Custom car Daddies; George Barris, Dean Jeffries, Ed Roth, Coddington and Foose.
Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz but just as much Emil Jellinek.
Golf GTi, original ‘hot-hatch’.
Colombo’s little V12, Lampredi’s bigger one.
Oversteer.
The bonnet mounted, three-pointed star.
Sequential gearbox shifters.
Formula One design, ground effect, stalling wings, active suspension, carbon-fibre and ceramic technology.
Mota-lita steering wheels.
Bullitt; a big block and a fast back.
Les Vingt-quatre Heures du Mans.
Front wheel brake dust.
Loud cars and tunnels.
Double wishbone, coil-over shock absorber suspension.
Personalised number plates.
Proper car names; Chieftan, Goldenhawk, Parisienne, Catalina, Bearcat, Silver Ghost, Barracuda, Blitzen Benz, Aventador…
Hot Rods.
Carrera Panamericana, Targa Florio, Mille Miglia.
Dead bugs and stonechips.
Side draught Weber carburettors, tea-strainer filters.
The smell of hot oil and petrol under the bonnet.
Boxer engines.
Air cooling.
Dry lakes and drag strips.
Detonation blankets and parachutes – on cars!
The Stelvio Pass.
Citroen DS and steering headlamps.
Cinquecento, topolino, the little mouse.
Handbrake turns, flat-changing and heel and toe.
Audi Quattro.
Mini Cooper tailpipes modelled from Coca-Cola cans.
911.
Borrani wire wheels.
Blood red Ferraris and Orange Squash Lamborghinis.
Vic Edelbrock.
Gulf Racing Colours.
Headlamp washers and tiny wipers.
Gullwing doors and flip-front bonnets.
Bosch M.F.I.
Flame paint jobs.
Convertibles under a starry dark sky.
Richard Petty and number 43.
Bowler Wildcat.
Pop-up, flip-over and sliding cover headlights.
The mighty V8 cylinder engine and its unique sound.
BMW Z4 side repeater signal light details.
Door thunks.
Perspex windows and riveted scoops and panels.
Four Wheel Drive; Range Rover, Land Cruiser.
LSD’s; viscous and Tor-Sen (torque-sensing).
Minilite magnesium wheels.
The Ford Escort Rallye Sport.
On board computer power with media hard drives.
The robotic, mesmeric motion of folding and unfolding metal roof panels on convertibles.
Hot Wheels, thanks Elliot Handler.
Neck-jolting acceleration.
Q-cars.
Land speed record.
Alec Issigonis.
Any colour you like, as long as it’s black.
Vorsprung Durch Technik…